Released in June 2023, Connections has since established itself as the second most-played game in the New York Times games section, behind only Wordle. Unlike other word games, Connections requires players to organize words into categories based upon something that links them together, which can provide an extraordinary test of logic for experienced puzzle solvers.
How to play Connections NYT
Although the concept behind Connections is simple in theory, putting it into practice can prove to be an extremely difficult challenge. Often, players can start off strong, before they come unstuck trying to solve the final two categories, which contain more obscure links.
1. When you start a game of Connections, you will see a 4×4 grid, with each box containing a different word.
2. The aim of the game is to find four groups of four words, which will be connected by a linking category. The categories given are designed to be more distinct in nature than just “names”, “verbs”, or “5-letter-words”.
3. Each category found represents a different level of difficulty. From easiest to most difficult, the order of the categories is yellow → green → blue → purple.
4. To make a guess, select four words and press or click submit to see if it is a correct grouping. You can select and deselect words an unlimited number of times before you decide to submit them.
5. During a game, players are allowed to make a maximum of four mistakes. When a mistake is made, the remaining answers will stay as they are, and a life will be removed. If all four mistakes are made, the game will end as a loss.
6. Once all groupings have been found, they will be displayed in the color that responds to their difficulty, alongside their common link.
7. A results screen can also be viewed to show you how many guesses were taken during the game, plus how any incorrect guesses combined with wrong answers are identified by their colors.
8. The minimum guesses needed to solve a level of Connections is 4 (best) and the maximum is 7 (worst). Once finished, players can see how much time they will need to wait in order to play the next puzzle. What’s more, they can even click to share their results with their friends, family, or colleagues.
What do the colors mean in Connections NYT?
- Each word given in a game of Connections starts off coloured light gray.
- When words are highlighted to form different groups before submission, they will turn dark gray.
- Once submitted and a group of four words is solved, the words in the group will change color to either yellow, green, blue or purple.
- The meaning behind each color is listed below:
- Yellow – Easy
- Green – Normal
- Blue – Hard
- Purple – Very hard
- Beginner players should aim to score 2/4 groups, while more experienced players should aim for 3/4 groups or to solve them all.
What does one away mean in Connections NYT?
- “One away” is a common term in Connections that is used any time 3 words out of 4 from a group have been identified.
- It is displayed in order to let the player know that they are close to solving an entire group and allow them to consider which word should be replaced by another to complete the group.
- However, players will still lose a turn if their attempt results in 3/4 words being correct.
Playing Connections competitively
If you love to be competitive while playing word games, you can find a skill score for each game you play using the Connections bot, amongst other Connection statistics. They assign a score up to 99 for each game based on the following criteria:
Losing games
- If you lose and do not find any categories, you score 50 points
- If you lose and find one category, you score 57 points
- If you lose and find two categories, you score 65 points
- You cannot lose and find three categories because there are only 4 tiles left that would mean solving the puzzle
Winning games
- If you make 3 mistakes when guessing the categories, you get 73 points
- 2 mistakes gets you 81 points
- 1 mistake will leave you with 88 points
- No mistakes results in 95 points
So where do the final 4 points comr from?
Bonus points
- If you solve the blue category first (the 2nd hardest category) you will score 1 bonus point
- If you solve the purple category first (the hardest category) you will score 2 bonus points
- If you solve the blue and purple categories as the first two categories, you will score 3 bonus points
- Finally, to score the full 99 points, you must solve all 4 categories in reverse order (purple, blue, yellow, green with no mistakes
Connections NYT tips and tricks
Know the most common groups
Our analysis of all previous Connections puzzles showed that most groups fall into the definitions & synonyms category (43.50%). There are 7 other major categories that appear as group answers.
This is a good starting point for solving the daily puzzle – try to find out if you can fit any 4 words into one of these major categories. For example, almost half of all purple groups have been some type of wordplay – either phrase completion or word transformation.
So if you’re hunting for reverse rainbow and want to solve the purple group first, think in terms of the wordplay.
Fixate on one word
A good trick to tackle the game board is to look at one word at a time, and really analyze all possible ways that word can be used. Is it a synonym for something? What connection can it have with pop culture?
Once you do this for each word on the board, you’ll quickly start to see which of them share the same category. It requires some time, but there’s no time limit on the game, so don’t rush.
Watch for overlaps
When you start to analyze the potential groupings in a game of Connections, you may find that certain words fit into multiple categories. These types of words can easily cause you to make incorrect guesses, so you should make a mental note of the categories you think they could belong to and evaluate them after you are more certain of what the final grouping may be.
Don’t forget that the game is designed to deceive you – just when you’ve found a common theme for 3 words, there’s nothing else on the board that fits into it. Many players make this mistake, so be careful and don’t just randomly guess a fourth word in panic.
Don’t stop at four words – validate
Once you’ve managed to connect 4 words into the common there, your instinct might be to submit the answers. But what if there is another word on the board that fits into the same theme?
Well, you probably have the wrong theme. And this is not uncommon. Many words could be connected in multiple ways, so as a quality check, make sure that ONLY four words fit into what you believe is the group connection.
Focus on “unusual” words
When you find a word or a phrase that’s rare, uncommon, or just looks weird, our advice is to focus on it. Those are the clues that will minimize the number of potential answers.
For example, you can’t associate BEAUFORT SCALE with many things aside from the weather. So when you see DEWPOINT, HEAT INDEX, and WIND CHILL on the board as well, it’s easy to connect them.
Most players instinctively run away from unusual and rare terms, and instead focus on the most familiar and common ones. But those terms can be associated with so many things, so connecting them is often a nightmare. Do the opposite.
Unlimited use of shuffle
By moving the tiles around each time you get stuck, you can start to see word combinations that you may not have spotted before. Prior to shuffling, it may be difficult to spot a link between words on different sides of the board but when they are placed side-by-side, it forces your eyes to notice them.
Don’t worry about already played combinations
Fortunately, the game keeps a list of any failed guesses you make, so there is no need to track these yourself. If you make an incorrect guess, be rest assured that you only need to focus on the new combinations you can make in upcoming turns. You can also look at all past Connections answers to recognise patterns.
Take a screenshot
In the end, we’re sharing one strategy from the Reddit user that we found really useful. With the 3-mistake limitation, it’s hard to actually try different combinations, so you’re limited to visually connecting the words into groups before submitting them on the board.
This user found a way around it – you take a screenshot of today’s puzzle on your phone, and then use your note/paint app to try to match all the words. This strategy helps with the mental challenge of keeping all potential connections in your head by placing it on the board before submitting any final answer.
Of course, you always have the option of trying out today’s puzzle by looking at some useful hints and tips we’ve prepared for you.